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Glynn County dismisses chairwoman of animal control advisory committee

Marci DeSart said commissioners didn't like her revealing number of cats and dogs killed at the county shelter

BRUNSWICK — Marci DeSart said the Glynn County Commission ousted her as head of its Animal Services Advisory Board Thursday because she told the truth and pushed for a no-kill shelter.

“From 2006 until 2013, 83% of the cats and 50% of the dogs that have come into the shelter have been killed,” she said. “That’s 17,573 killed by Glynn County Animal Services.”

DeSart created charts showing the rate of euthanization and posted them on Facebook.

“Since I created the charts, I have become a target,” she said. “No one knew the level of killing that was going on. I feel like they’ve built a case around me to derail the no-kill initiative.”

County commissioners told a different story leading up to their vote to remove her.

They said she set up the Facebook page without county oversight, openly criticized animal control staff, refused to go through the chain of command to address a problem and stepped outside the bounds of her job description.

The role of the board, they said, is not to run the shelter but to make recommendations to the County Commission.

“There has been somebody who has not been a team member on board,” Commissioner May Hunt said as she made the motion to remove DeSart.

Commissioner Richard Strickland seconded the motion, saying, “This doesn’t have anything to do with no-kill. It has to do with an individual who is causing real problems on this board.”

Another advisory board member, Ashby Nix, said after the meeting that DeSart had been an effective chairman even if her tactics were questionable at times.

“She did bring a lot of facts out to the public,” Nix said. “That was highly controversial. Glynn County didn’t like having that kind of material advertised.”

A feud of sorts has simmered between the advisory board and the County Commission for several months. At its January work session, the commission lambasted the advisory board and issued a warning at its next regular meeting that changes were on the way.

Prior to their vote, they said DeSart was warned to change her ways but had continued her unacceptable behavior.

Nix said much of the conflict could be attributed to the commission’s refusal to address board members directly.

“Throughout this whole thing, they have not had a discussion with the advisory board,” she said.

Despite DeSart’s contention, commissioners said they will give the no-kill option a hard look.

“I think there is an opportunity for us to get together and look at no-kill,” Hunt said. “We do see its merits.”